Week in Review: Quiet Deadline, Quality Response

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 7/31 through Sun, 8/6
***
Record Last Week: 5-1 (Overall: 59-54)
Run Differential Last Week: +13 (Overall: +47)
Standing: 1st Place in AL Central (4.5 GA)

Last Week's Game Results:

Game 108 | MIN 3, STL 2: Solano's Big Hit Leads to Slim Victory
Game 109 | STL 7, MIN 3: Cards Crush Ryan for Four Homers
Game 110 | MIN 5, STL 3: Gray Excels, Earns First Win Since April
Game 111 | MIN 3, ARI 2: Three Solo Shots Enough to Sink D-backs
Game 112 | MIN 12, ARI 1: Jeffers Homers Twice in Blowout Win
Game 113 | MIN 5, ARI 3: Kepler Ties It, Wallner Walks It Off

NEWS & NOTES

The Twins headed into the trade deadline looking like a team in dire need of help, riding a five-game losing streak and coming off an embarrassing sweep to the Royals. They got none. 

The front office strangely stood pat at the deadline, passing up the opportunity to make even minor additions for a flawed team being struck by continuous attrition. The gravity of their inaction was felt even more heavily as we learned that Brock Stewart and Alex Kirilloff, two players who were in line for key roles down the stretch and beyond, had troubling injury setbacks.

Kirilloff is now on the injured list with a right shoulder strain that's been bothering him for some time and worsened. Stewart was moved to the 60-day IL last week, unable to shake his forearm soreness. It would not be surprising if neither makes it back this year.

The Twins also lost Byron Buxton to the IL with a strained hamstring, and Joe Ryan with a strained groin. The circumstances of Ryan's injury were especially frustrating – he evidently had been bothered by it for several starts but failed to notify the team, pitching horrifically in the meantime.

Speaking of pitching horrifically, the Twins had seen enough of that from Jovani Moran. Shortly after the left-hander issued three walks in one inning during Saturday's blowout, he was optioned to St. Paul. He just can't stay in the strike zone and unless that changes Moran has no future in the big leagues.

The roster did get some reinforcements amid all of these subtractions. Brent Headrick was swapped in for Moran, joining newly-activated Caleb Thielbar as a second lefty in the pen. Jordan Luplow was claimed off waivers from Toronto, adding a much-needed right-handed bat to the mix – albeit a lesser alternative to what was available via trade. 

And on Sunday, Dallas Keuchel made his Twins debut against Arizona. Keuchel wasn't very impressive, recording zero strikeouts with two walks and eight hits allowed, but lucked his way into holding AZ to one run. He figures to get at least a couple more looks while Ryan is sidelined.

HIGHLIGHTS

From a big-picture view, the most impactful developments of the week – in terms of the Twins and their outlook – took place elsewhere. While Minnesota did nothing at the deadline, Cleveland one-upped them by selling off key veteran pieces in Aaron Civale and Josh Bell. Later in the week, their biggest star sparked an on-field fistfight with White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson. A perfect summary of the "drunken bar fight" (as GATG coined) that is this year's AL Central. 

Jose Ramirez might've taken down Anderson in the scrum, but his Guardians were the ones taking haymakers and dropping in the standings. They lost five of six games to fall four and a half back of the Twins, who more than took care of business against a pair of struggling National League opponents.

Ryan Jeffers was the emergent star of the offense, leading the charge in Saturday's 12-run flurry with a pair of home runs after doubling and homering in the St. Louis series. He finally appears to be realizing his potential as a power-hitting force at catcher, and became the first Twins position player to reach 2.0 fWAR. As a part-time catcher, that's an extremely impressive number for early August. The success of Jeffers is almost entirely counterbalancing the total offensive void that has been Christian Vazquez.

Michael A. Taylor joined the fun on Saturday by homering in his third straight game. Much like Jeffers, albeit to a lesser extent, Taylor's combination of power and defense at a premium position make him more valuable than meets the eye. 

Max Kepler has gotten back to offering those qualities too, minus the premium position part. He went deep three times over the weekend at Target Field, including a game-tying blast in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday, and suddenly his OPS his healthily above-average. The glovework in right field remains sterling.

Shortly after Kepler tied Sunday's game in the ninth, Matt Wallner stepped in with a runner on first base and nobody out. Paul Sewald, who'd been victimized by the Twins in a loss two weeks earlier (as a member of the Mariners), left a 92-MPH fastball out over the plate and Wallner said "buh-bye" for his first career walk-off in the majors.

At last, Wallner has found his way into everyday playing time in the majors and he is thriving. The Twins cannot look back at this point. He went 6-for-20 with two homers, two doubles, and seven RBIs last week. Wallner has seemingly settled in as Rocco Baldelli's No. 5 hitter against right-handers and it's a good look.

On the pitching side, it was a sorely needed stabilization for the Twins and their staff. The rotation's lagging performance after the All-Star break was setting off all kinds of alarms. But outside of Ryan's dud, the starters got it done.

Sonny Gray notched his first win since April on Wednesday, hurling seven innings of two-run ball before handing it to Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran for a smooth 3-2 victory. He struck out eight and walked none, peppering the zone with confidence all night. It's the kind of emphatic and decisive performance that's been oddly rare for Gray during this undeniably stellar season. 

Kenta Maeda was lights-out once again on Saturday. Pablo López and Bailey Ober also threw well. Dylan Floro made a welcome impact with two shutout innings from the bullpen. Jax threw three scoreless eighth innings, all in tight situations, to lower his ERA to 2.85 on the season. 

There are a lot of parts to like on this team, which makes it all the more befuddling that the front office failed to supplement or add depth in anyway at the deadline. Alas, that's in the past now, and doesn't take away from the teeming potential of this ballclub when enough pieces are clicking. Especially if they could get one other piece in particular to click...

LOWLIGHTS

When Carlos Correa managed to drop a two-run single into left field in the sixth inning on Sunday, giving the Twins a (brief) lead, one can only imagine the level of relief he felt. To say Correa had been in a skid would be an understatement: He entered the game slashing .143/.204/.184 in his previous 12, and had already grounded into two double plays on the day, extending his league-leading total to 22. 

Despite his best efforts, Correa has been a constant drain on the lineup, failing to harness any burst of momentum or find a sustained rhythm at the plate. He's homered just once since June 24th (a span of 150 plate appearances). Sunday's game was his first with multiple RBIs in more than three weeks. 

I desperately want to believe that Correa's clutch moment against Arizona will finally be the breakthrough that sticks and sets up a late surge. But my faith has run dry. We've seen so many of these fleeting, false indicators of a turnaround that I've finally grown convinced Correa is what he is, for this year at least: a below-average hitter with frustratingly repetitive tendencies.

Sure enough, in his next at-bat – with a runner on and the game tied in the eighth – Correa went down in familiar fashion, watching a fastball sail over the plate uncontested for strike three.

All things considered, Minnesota is in a relatively favorable position: overwhelmingly likely to make the playoffs with a roster makeup conducive to October success. (Good starters and backend relievers, power-driven lineup.) The Guardians fortunately seem intent on maximizing Minnesota's margin or error, but the runway is never going to be infinite. 

The Twins need better from guys like Correa and Ryan, who are viewed as leaders on this team. They need to stop feeding at-bats to Joey Gallo. They need to catch a few dang breaks on the health front. (The return of Royce Lewis, hopefully later this month, looms large.)

The past seven days may have moved the needle strongly in Minnesota's direction for the AL Central race, but did little to quell the nagging concerns that this group – left intact, as such – is equipped to end the franchise's postseason curse narrative.

TRENDING STORYLINE

With all the big news surrounding the trade deadline and shifting AL Central dynamics, it was also a very eventful week on the Twins farm. Top draft pick Walker Jenkins debuted in the Florida Complex League, doubling in his first professional plate appearance. We'll be waiting a long time for the arrival of the 18-year-old stud outfielder, but it's going to be fun to follow him.

Twins fans won't have to wait nearly as long to see to see the organization's No. 1 prospect, and top draft pick from a year ago. Brooks Lee was promoted to Triple-A last week, putting him just one step away from the majors at age 22. 

It's not unthinkable Lee could find his way up to the big leagues this year, especially if Lewis can't rebound from his oblique injury, but one way or another he's not far off. The Saints return to CHS Field this coming week if you're interested in catching baseball's No. 17 prospect in action.

LOOKING AHEAD

These are what they call the dog days. The Twins are running through a bit of a summer gauntlet in the schedule right now: 16 games in 17 days, with 13 of them on the road. They're wrapping up this tough stretch in the coming week with trips to Detroit and Philly, with no break. 

The second half of August gets much more accommodating: after next weekend's Phillies series, they have four off days mixed into the following three weeks, and 12 of their remaining 14 August games are at home. 

They've just gotta get through this next week. Beware: lefty starters lurk ahead.

MONDAY, 8/7: TWINS @ TIGERS – RHP Pablo Lopez v. LHP Joey Wentz
TUESDAY, 8/8: TWINS @ TIGERS – RHP Sonny Gray v. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez
WEDNESDAY, 8/9: TWINS @ TIGERS – RHP Bailey Ober v. TBD
THURSDAY, 8/10: TWINS @ TIGERS – RHP Kenta Maeda v. RHP Reese Olson
FRIDAY, 8/11: TWINS @ PHILLIES – LHP Dallas Keuchel v. LHP Cristopher Sanchez
SATURDAY, 8/12: TWINS @ PHILLIES – RHP Pablo Lopez v. RHP Taijuan Walker
SUNDAY, 8/13: TWINS @ PHILLIES – RHP Sonny Gray v. LHP Ranger Suarez